McLaughlin masters Milwaukee Mile amid wild race

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin came out on top of a chaotic second race at Indycar’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader, the Kiwi fending off rival Scott Dixon by a narrow margin of just 0.455s.

McLaughlin, who started second, inherited the lead after a crash involving his teammate Josef Newgarden early in the race.

He then remained a contender throughout the 250-lap event, which featured an intense and late side-by-side battle with Colton Herta for the lead. Despite a restart with 11 laps to go and pressure from a charging Scott Dixon, McLaughlin held firm to capture his third win of the season.

“That was the most fun race I’ve had in IndyCar,” said the Penske driver, who led 85 laps on the day.

“That was a blast. So happy for everyone on the Gallagher Chevy, we just stuck with it. It wasn’t quite good at the start - the car - and then we just tuned her up and it was awesome.

“A lot better in traffic today, which helped a lot. Credit to Colton; we had a blast racing each other.”

After a disappointing afternoon for IndyCar title contenders Alex Palou and Will Power, the former will head into the series’ finale at Nashville with a 33-point lead over his Penske rival.

Power, who spun midway through the race, rued a missed opportunity to gain significant ground on Palou following the electrical issues that undermined the Chip Ganassi Racing’s race.

“A long shot now. God gave us a chance then, but kind of let it go,” said Power. “That’s the season, man. You just can’t have those mistakes.”